Effect of UF operating condition on cleaning efficiency of fouled membrane

UF operating conditions directly influence the thickness and density of cake layer on the membrane surface and indirectly the cleaning efficiency of fouling membrane.The effect of feed pH,ionic strength,fouling time and pressure on the cleaning efficiency during the filtration of glutamic fermentation broth is investigated.The results showed that the cleaning efficiency is up to 99.48% with pH increasing from 2.77 to 7.00.However,the cleaning efficiency falls to 82.71% at pH 9.00 because the strong repulsion occurs between the negative solvents and UF membrane.The longer UF time,the lower the cleaning efficiency.The cleaning efficiency increases as UF pressure increases within the low range of UF pressure.The cleaning efficiency increases as ionic strength increases.